McKinney Gunman Certified in Law Enforcement

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The man who killed himself during a shootout with a suburban Dallas police department once worked as a jailer and security guard and even praised the very officers he attacked, according to associates and records.

Sharp retreated to a field across a road and fired more than 100 rounds at police headquarters, McKinney police Chief Bob Kowalski said. The trailer didn't ignite.

Sharp killed himself during the shootout. Investigators found an assault rifle, a shotgun and a handgun on Sharp and later found more weapons in his home.

Friends of McKinney Gunman Look for Answers

The medical examiner said Patrick Sharp shot himself, while friend are still trying to understand what drove him try to ambush employees at the McKinney public safety building.

(Published Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2010)

Nobody else was injured in the attack in the suburb of roughly 127,000 people about 30 miles north of Dallas.

Police said they don't have a motive.

"I guess the thing that's hardest for me is how did he even think of this?" said Cheryl Cox, the mother of Sharp's roommate. "What brought this out? Why would he do something in front of a police department?"

Cell Phone Video: Truck on Fire Outside McKinney PD

A Ford pickup truck with a trailer pulled up to the municipal building just after 9 a.m. and was soon after engulfed in flames. Matt Payne captured the scene on his cell phone.

(Published Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010)

Sharp was a security guard for building wire manufacturer Encore Wire Corp. in McKinney, Cox said. A spokesman for Encore Wire told The Dallas Morning News that Sharp resigned a few days before the attack. Encore officials didn't return a call from The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Cox said she thought of Sharp as a son and was "shocked" by the attack. She said she had no idea why he would target McKinney police, particularly since he often praised officers when he had to call them out to his work site.

"He relied on police to solve the problems at Encore," Cox said from her home just behind the house Sharp shared with Eric McClellan in Anna, about 15 miles north of McKinney. "He never said, 'Those jerks.' Nothing. He was always praising them."

Police: Gunman Had Explosives in Trailer

A man towed a trailer full of explosives into the McKinney public safety building parking lot on Tuesday, then set fire to his pickup truck and began shooting at the building in an apparent attempt to lure people outside to kill them, authorities said.

(Published Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010)

Bobby Cox, the stepfather of Sharp's roommate, said Sharp worked for him at his nursery business and was reliable and respectful. Sharp went out of his way to help nursery customers, and once moved furniture for a woman who wanted to rearrange her living room before her husband returned from Germany, Cheryl Cox said.

Neighbor Randy Mullins said he once rebuked Sharp, who used a pellet gun to shoot a dog that was wandering through the neighborhood. But Mullins said they maintained a cordial relationship and that Sharp "seemed like a real cool guy."

Starting in 2001, Sharp was twice certified as a state-licensed security officer. The two-year licenses allowed him to work uniformed security but not carry a firearm.

The second license was obtained through a company in the Dallas suburb of Richardson where he worked from February 2004 through October 2005, according to a spokesman for the company, Silver Star Security. The spokesman declined to identify the companies for which Sharp would have provided security.

Sharp's security officer's license expired in 2006 and wasn't renewed, according to Department of Public Safety records.

DPS spokesman Tom Vinger said he could not comment on a specific person, but said state regulations allow security guards to work without a license as long as they aren't in uniform.

The spokesman for Silver Star Security said Sharp was a good officer who left the company to pursue other opportunities.

Sharp's work as a jailer was in 2001 under a temporary license for employees of contract facilities. According to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education, he worked three months at a federal prison operated by The GEO Group Inc. in San Antonio but didn't seek a permanent license when the temporary certification expired after a year.

A spokeswoman for the agency said there are no records to show why Sharp didn't complete the program required for permanent certification as a jailer.

A spokesman for The GEO Group said the company couldn't comment on specific employees.

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